Altura Homes

Altura Homes specializes in building affordable high quality homes in emerging communities for the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

By Jim Harris, Contributing Writer for Knighthouse Media

Altura Homes prides itself on creating an efficient and smooth home buying process for its customers. “When a customer enters one of our model home based sales offices, our trained New Home Sales Consultant will educate them on the advantages of new home ownership and will then assist the customer in choosing the home site along with plan and elevation that best suits their needs to enhance their overall living experience,” says Justin Webb, CEO and owner of the Rockwall, Texas-based company.

Webb attributes the company’s ease of operation to its use of the Mark Systems Integrated Homebuilder Management System (IHMS). This system is used to organize purchase orders and other information in regards to the overall internal process of building an Altura Home. “We are a production oriented company and in that sense, every material used in our homes is defined up front prior to construction,” he says. “This process enables us to keep our costs down by knowing each and every home before it even starts.”

Established by Webb in 2005, Altura Homes is active in 18 communities within the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex region. The company builds in emerging communities with good schools and located near employment centers. “We are in the up and coming, outlying areas that haven’t been built up yet, but will be the next areas to see development,” Webb says. “We are able to offer affordable housing in beautiful new communities.”

Webb and company President Donnie Evans live in the region, so they are able to keep a close eye on market trends and emerging areas. Evans, a veteran of the homebuilding industry with more than 40 years of experience, was hired as the company’s president in February of 2015.

Webb initially consulted with Evans, who he knew from their mutual involvement in the Dallas Builders Association, to help him decide between three candidates he was interviewing for the president role. Evans’ experience included working for a large national volume builder as division president so he was well in tuned with what it would take to be a successful division president.

“When we met for lunch to discuss the three candidates, he asked me ‘is there any way you’d consider me?,’ which blew me away, because I didn’t know he was available,” Webb says. “Hiring [Evans] was either really good luck or a stroke of genius.”

Webb added that Evans brought not only his expertise and knowledge, but also a management team of sales and construction professionals that have a combined total of over 100 years’ experience in the homebuilding industry.

Career Evolution

A third-generation homebuilder, Webb became fascinated with construction at a young age. “I started learning how to draw floorplans when I was 13,” he says. “After that, I worked on the cleanup crew and framing crew, and eventually I did a lot of accounting work and created a cost price Excel program for my father.”

Webb attended Texas A&M University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and an MBA in real estate. Afterward, he worked for several large finance firms in roles that involved tax accounting, mortgage investment and real estate appraisal.

In 1999, he returned to the homebuilding industry when he became general manager of his family’s company. He started Altura Homes in 2005.

Years of Growth

Altura’s homes range in price from less than $200,000 to more than $500,000. “Our homes are a mix of entry-level as well as first and second move-up homes,” Webb says.

The company defines a target price range for each community it builds, then creates five to eight floorplans for each community. Each floorplan typically includes two to three elevations. “We really work hard to figure out where the market niches are as well as what the best size of homes and best price points should be,” he adds.

Altura’s newest community will be located in Greenville, Texas. This year the company began work on a beautiful new townhome community, the first such development it has undertaken.

Altura Homes anticipates building 400 homes this year, its highest volume yet. “When I started with my family’s company in 1999, we were building 45 homes a year. When I started Altura in 2005, we were building 100 homes,” Webb says. “I am proud that we have been able to grow our business and build homes for hundreds of people and provide rewarding jobs for our employees.”